Holidays Bring Good Cheer to Chipmakers

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Supply chain checks into Asian chip distributors are showing greater than expected strength as companies prepare for stronger than expected shipments of consumer products and smartphones.

Anyone who sells into the consumer market knows that the Christmas rush time is crucial to the success of the entire year. That’s why it’s good news that chip distributors are reporting better than expected numbers for the fourth quarter, according to FBR Research.

FBR Research says the unexpected strength was driven by strong industrial, consumer and smartphone chip orders in November.

"A robust Golden Week holiday required downstream OEMs to place rush orders for Christmas and required downstream OEMs to place rush orders for Christmas and provided confidence to begin placing orders for Chinese New Years," the firm writes in a brief report.

The firm adds that Asian distributor inventories fell and product lead times contracted modestly in late November.

"We think shorter lead times are a healthy industry positive that could eliminate customers' desires to double-order product or build excess inventories," the firm writes.

Consumer and smartphone markets were the strongest in November while PC notebook shipments fell less than expected.

Jessica Davis covers the channel for eWeek and Channel Insider. Her technology journalism career began well before anyone heard of the World Wide Web and has included stints at Infoworld, Electronic News/EDN, and the Philadelphia Business Journal. Her work has also appeared on CNN and Forbes.com. She has covered hardware, software and networking, as well as the business side of technology. She has won several journalism awards, including a national ASBPE award for best staff-written column, and was named Marketing Computers hardest working tech journalist on their inaugural list of top tech journalists. Jessica can be reached at jessica.davis@ziffdavisenterprise.com